Here are some common questions we are asked at Anytime Fitness. We want our members to reach their fitness goals, and part of that is ensuring they have all the information they need to make the best choices in their day to day lives.
Question: My wife thinks she'll get big and bulky if she starts lifting weights with me. How do I convince her otherwise?
Answer: This comes up all the time, and it's one of the biggest myths out there. First of all, women simply don't have the proper hormonal balance to put on large amounts of muscle tissue. Secondly, even if they did have the right physiology, it would take some serious training to do it. Getting bigger muscles requires high-volume workouts (lots of sets and repetitions) and a pretty high intensity level as well. Picking up a few weights here and there isn't a recipe for building mass-it's what you do and how you do it that really makes the difference. Remind your wife that weight training programs can always be tailored to specific goals, so if she doesn't want to put on large amounts of muscle, that's just fine. Generally speaking, a full-body circuit with higher repetition ranges a few days per week would work well if she's just looking to tone up or maintain her current level of muscle tissue. If she wants to get an individualized program based on her goals, look for a qualified personal trainer in your area.
Question: Do fad diets work?
Answer: In short, yes… and no. Most research shows that fad diets do work, and some of them do so quite well. The dictionary defines “diet” as a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly to reduce one's weight, so if the latest fad diet doesn't elicit some sort of weight loss, it clearly won't survive out on the market for very long. The problem is that fad diets are short-term solutions to a long-term problem. They also tend to associate weight loss success with some gimmick when, in actuality, decreased calorie intake is usually the “real” reason for shedding the pounds. So fad diets are effective to a degree, but I don't know too many people that like losing some weight, gaining it back, and then jumping over to the next fad to start the process all over again. The way to lose weight and keep it off is through persistent behavior modification and lifestyle change. If you can make this type of commitment, you'll be able to leave the fad diet books on the store shelves where they belong.
Question: Is it true that I'm supposed to drink 8-8oz. glasses of water per day?
Answer: This is actually a more complicated question than you might think, but the answer is no, not necessarily. The daily Adequate Intake (AI) for water is 3.7 liters (132 ounces) for men and 2.7 liters (96 ounces) for women over age 19. You're probably thinking these numbers are high, but that's because they represent total water intake from both fluids and foods. This even includes beverages with caffeine and alcohol, since the Institute of Medicine concluded that they contribute to overall hydration, assuming they're consumed in moderation. Generally speaking, we take in 80% of our water from fluids and 20% from foods, so doing a little math gives us about 105 ounces for men and 77 ounces for women per day. These are rough estimates gathered from national data, and they may be appropriate for some, but how do we go about individualizing these recommendations? It's actually pretty simple. Ideally, we should base our fluid needs on body weight, since a heavier person clearly needs more water than someone who weighs less. Therefore, a good goal is to drink half your body weight in ounces each day. For example, a 160-pound person should drink roughly 80 ounces of fluid per day.
No comments:
Post a Comment